Cooling Systems

AEH 307
Agricultural Tractors
COOLING SYSTEM

 Peak combustion temperatures in an engine exceed the melting point of cast

iron.
 Thus, some type of cooling system is needed to protect the engine from self
destruction.
 Although cooling is needed, overcooling is undesirable because corrosive
compounds form in an engine that runs at low temperature.
The cooling system must maintain the engine temperature within a desirable
range.
HEAT TRANSFER IN AN ENGINE
 Peak combustion temperatures in an engine can exceed 2700°C , but the
cooling system lowers temperatures substantially.
 Figure 2 shows a typical temperature profile for a section of a cylinder wall.
 The cooling system cools the wall, and a great temperature drop occurs in the
boundary layer between the hot combustion gases and the chamber wall. I
 f it is not swept away by engine knock or by excessive turbulence, the
boundary layer protects the cast-iron chamber wall from the high
temperature of the combustion gas.
Temperature profile in a combustion chamber
 Air is used to cool most small engines, some larger stationary engines, and
some large tractor engines.
 Heat cannot be transferred to air as readily as to water.
 Therefore, the hotter parts of air-cooled engines must have fins to provide
more surface area for heat transfer.
 A cooling fan is provided to move large quantities of air past the fins. A
sheet-metal enclosure and baffles direct the air over the hottest parts of the
engine.
 Air cooling eliminates the need for a water pump, radiator, cooling jacket,
thermostat, and antifreeze, but precise temperature control is more difficult
in aircooled engines than in water-cooled engines.
 Most vehicles are equipped with watercooled engines.
Liquid (water) cooling system

 There are two types of air systems commonly used. These are:
 Hopper or water jacket system and
 Thermosyphonic system
Hopper or water jacket system

 The cylinders and combustion chambers are

completely surrounded by water jacket.
Cooling occurs by direct transfer of heat to
the water in the hopper.
WATER COOLING BY THERMOSIPHON

 The thermosiphon system is a closed cooling system that some early tractors
used. Cool water from the radiator enters the water jacket surrounding the
cylinders.
 Heat transferred from the cylinders causes vapor bubbles to form in the
water.
 The consequent reduction in density forces the water to rise and flow to the
top of the engine and into the radiator.
 A fan pulls air through the radiator to cool the water. The cooled water at the
bottom of the radiator reenters the engine to start another cycle.
 Thermosiphon action is present in modern cooling systems but it is aided by a
pump.
WATER PUMPS AND FANS

 Modern water-cooling systems are similar to the thermosiphon system,

except that a pump is added to create more positive circulation of the cooling
water. The elements of a typical system are illustrated in Figure below. The
pump is mounted on the front of the engine and is driven by the crankshaft
through a V-belt. The water pump receives cool water from the lower part of
the radiator and discharges it directly into the engine block. Thus, the pump
assists the natural circulation that occurs in the thermosiphon system.
A cutaway view of a water pump.
 It is common practice to mount the fan on the front of the water pump shaft so
that the water pump and fan can be driven by the same V-belt.
 Early fans had only two blades, but now fans with up to six blades are common.
The pitch of most fans is designed to pull air through the radiator and blow it
across the engine.
 Some engines have pusher fans that push air through the radiator. A shroud is
attached to the radiator and surrounds the fan to improve its efficiency in moving
air.
 The fan is made to rotate much faster than the crankshaft for increased air-
handling capacity.
 A fast-moving fan absorbs considerable power. Therefore, a thermostatically
controlled clutch is sometimes used on engines to allow the fan to freewheel
when the engine is cool.
RADIATORS

 A radiator is a water-to-air heat exchanger. Water flows through a set of

finned tubes (Figure 7).
 The tubes are connected into tanks at the top and bottom of the radiator. The
fins provide much surface area for the transfer of heat to the air that flows
between the tubes. Since the radiator must have enough frontal area to
dissipate the heat from the coolant, larger radiators are required for larger
engines.
 Water boils at 100°C at one atmosphere of pressure. However, the boiling
point of water is raised in modern cooling systems by maintaining the coolant
pressure as much as 100 kPa above atmospheric pressure. The boiling point is
raised approximately 1°C for each 4 kPa increase in pressure.
 Since excessive pressure could rupture the radiator, the radiator cap contains
a pressure relief valve.
 The valve is normally closed, as shown in Figure (a). The pressure rating of
the cap is equal to the pressure at which the pressure relief valve opens to
release coolant to the overflow tube (Figure b).
 The missing coolant causes a vacuum in the radiator when the system cools.
Therefore, a vacuum relief valve is also included in the radiator cap (Figure
c).The vacuum relief valve opens and admits air when the radiator cools.
 The bottom of the overflow tube is immersed in an overflow tank on some
engines (Figure ). Thus, coolant that escapes through the pressure relief valve
can return by suction through the vacuum relief valve when the radiator is
cool.
TEMPERATURE CONTROL

 Excessive temperature can cause severe damage in an engine. If the inside

surface of the cylinder liner is not kept below approximately 200°C, the
lubricating oil film can be destroyed with consequent scoring of the cylinder
walls. Excessively high temperatures also can cause warping or fracture of
valves, blocks, and other engine parts.
 Engines operate in a wide variety of air temperatures, and the cooling system
must have enough capacity to protect the engine on the hottest day.
 Therefore, the cooling system has considerable excess capacity when the
engine is operating under more normal conditions.
 Without some means to reduce cooling capacity, the engine would warm up
very slowly and operate at too low a temperature.
 Then, water produced by combustion could condense and react with sulphur
oxides in the exhaust gas to form corrosive compounds inside the engine.
 Operating an engine at too low a temperature increases wear rates, increases
fuel consumption, and reduces power output.
 The temperature of an engine can be regulated by covering or uncovering
part of the frontal area of the radiator. On engines with thermosiphon
systems, manually operated shutters are used to cover or uncover the
radiator.
 However, thermostats provide the automatic regulation of engine
temperature and are used almost exclusively to control the temperature of
modern engines.
Thermostat
 When the engine is cold, the thermostat closes and prevents water from
flowing through the radiator.
 A bypass passage of small diameter is provided to allow some coolant to flow
from the head directly to the water pump.
 Thus, a small amount of coolant bypasses the radiator, but water continues to
circulate through the engine.
 The engine warms up rapidly when the thermostat is closed, and the bypass
provides for more uniform warm-up. When the coolant is warm enough, the
thermostat opens and allows water to flow through the radiator.
 The bypass is so small that only a small fraction of the coolant flows through
it when the thermostat is open. Some engines have the bypass arranged to be
blocked by an extension when the thermostat is open.
COOLANTS

 Water is effective in transferring heat, but it has serious limitations as an

engine coolant. Water freezes at 0°C , and vehicles often are parked outdoors
in colder temperatures.
 Thus, water alone could freeze in cooling systems, and the resulting
expansion of water into ice could break the radiator or engine block. Water
alone in contact with the iron inside an engine could cause severe rusting.
 Thus, a variety of other liquids has been used with water to overcome its
limitations.
 Methyl alcohol and denatured ethyl alcohol formerly were used as antifreeze
agents. The alcohols provided good freezing point depression, but they were
difficult to keep in the cooling system because of their low boiling points.
 Most antifreeze agents now are based on ethylene glycol (C2H6O2).
 As Figure shown, ethylene glycol lowers the freezing point of the coolant to a
minimum of -69°C at a concentration of 68% by volume.
 Larger concentrations raise the freezing point. The ethylene glycol also
increases the boiling point of the coolant.
 At a 50% concentration and at atmospheric pressure, ethylene glycol provides
cooling performance over a temperature range from -37°C to 109°C .If the
radiator was pressurized to 103 kPa , the temperature range would extend up
to 130°C.
Properties of Ethlylene Glycol
 Several additives are included with ethylene glycol to improve its performance.
Since solutions of ethylene glycol and water are corrosive to metals, chemical
inhibitors are added to protect the metals in the cooling system.
 The inhibitors also contain an alkaline substance to neutralize any acids that may
enter the cooling system from exhaust gas leakage.
 Foam suppressors are added to the ethylene glycol. They lower the surface tension
of the solution, thereby interfering with bubble formation.
 Rust inhibitors in the antifreeze form a chemical film over metal parts to retard
rust formation. Finally, a dye is added to the antifreeze to give it a distinctive
color.
 Antifreeze provides many more benefits than just freezing point depression.
Therefore, it is good practice to keep an antifreeze solution in the cooling system
even when temperatures are above freezing.